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Food Technology

Chef preparing sandwiches in a large kitchen.

The West Midlands is the birthplace of great British food and drink icons including Cadbury, Typhoo Tea, Bird’s Custard and Marston’s.

With prestige and recognition from so many global food and drink brands starting their journey here, and by utilising advanced manufacturing, the region has not only maintained a historic record of great food production but exceeded it.

This excellence can be seen today as manufacturers such as Mondelēz International, East End Foods, Allied Bakeries and Cleone Food use the region as a base for R&D and manufacturing.

Food Technology in the West Midlands

59,000 people employed in accommodation and food service in Birmingham alone
Home to brands such as Marstons & East End Foods
Central location makes region key for distribution
R&D expertise with the region’s universities providing food technology courses
33.8% of the population is under 25
Woman wearing a scarf and beanie hat with her hands clasped, leaning on a counter.
Marstons logo etched on glass on the side of a building.
Cadbury, Investing in the West Midlands.
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In the West Midlands, we’re privileged to have not only great education systems, but also a great number of high-quality universities, giving us great access to lots of talent and resource in the local region.

Kyle Rowe, Holland & Barrett

From fish and chips, to fine dining

The West Midlands is a region with an exceptional taste in food, and with ten Michelin-starred restaurants including Adam’s and the Wilderness, one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK.

Eateries, new and old, have risen to the challenge to boost trade as tourism has continued to grow aggressively throughout the region, and has undoubtedly played a part the West Midlands quality of life being ranked higher than Rome, Osaka and Washington DC.

Restaurant hanging signs in Birmingham.
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Specialising in 3D printed nutrition, we have benefited from the skills and expertise of recruits from three local universities who focused their studies on additive manufacturing.

 

As a tech startup where we manufacture all our products in-house, we have also found the reasonable rent for office space and production units, as well as the direct transport links to the rest of the UK, extremely helpful.

Melissa Snover, CEO and founder, Nourish3d

Up and coming expertise

Food technology courses and high levels of specialist research are all provided by the West Midlands’ regional universities, of which there are nine local institutes and 73,000 graduates across the West Midlands Combined Authority. Match this academic expertise with the existing 153,715 food and drink professionals across the region, and it’s clear that any food technology company can access a rich talent pool of industry experts and comestibles manufacturing trainees right here. 

Wolverhampton University.

Free support services

We bring together a project team from relevant organisations across the region. This team includes property agents, recruitment consultants, public sector departments and universities. It delivers a comprehensive support package to quickly and easily help you establish and scale your business in the UK.

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